Manuscript Releases, vol. 6 [Nos. 347-418]

MR No. 393—Material Appears in Manuscript Release Nos. 448 and 449

MR No. 394—The Health Reform Message and Medical Missionary Work

There is real common sense in health reform.... To care for the body by giving it that quality of food which is relishable and strengthening is one of the first duties in order to prepare the workers to do good sound work.—Letter 12, 1887, p. 9. (To C. L. Boyd, June 25, 1887.) 6MR 308.1

You say that some connected with the school object to the use of “Healthful Living,” and state that I disapprove of the book. In answer to this statement I would say that I have always appreciated “Healthful Living.” In no instance have I uttered a word of disapproval, neither has a thought of disapproval entered my mind. “Healthful Living” is a good and useful book, and can be used in your school with good results. 6MR 308.2

I am sorry that so many are ready to receive statements which have no true foundation. Let none of your teachers be ready to catch up and repeat “They say.” Ask those who make such statements to produce their authority. It means something to report hearsay, especially concerning a book which has been as carefully prepared as “Healthful Living.” Those who circulate reports of this kind, unless they have the very best authority, will do harm instead of good. 6MR 308.3

If all, old and young, were seeking more earnestly to acquire all the knowledge possible on healthful living, and to reform their habits of eating, drinking, and dressing in accordance with the principles of temperance, they would have a life-saving influence. May the Lord impress all who are engaged in the work of educating with the fact that before they can be acceptable, God-fearing, intelligent teachers, they must be daily learners in the school of Christ. “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me,” says the great Teacher, “and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” If this can be carried out in the practical life in the school to be established in Sheridan, (Illinois) you will have the blessing of God, and complete success. The life which God has entrusted to us is to be regarded as sacred, to be preserved by healthful living, for the service of the Master.—Letter 152, 1900, pp. 1, 2. (To Roy F. Cottrell, November 20, 1900.) 6MR 308.4

I thank God for the medical missionary work. God will call for every soul who is educated to work in this line in connection with the gospel ministry. He has places for them. Let not one stone be placed in the way of those who are striving to teach our youth how to do this work.... The Lord desires His people to adopt the light on health reform, leading out in paths of self denial and self-sacrifice. Oh how it has hurt me to have blocks thrown in my way in regard to this subject.... 6MR 309.1

I want you to think of these things. Do not make any human being your criterion. You have a body which is fearfully and wonderfully made. That body should be most carefully dealt with. The physical system must be kept in perfect order, that the brain power may be keen and strong. 6MR 309.2

Any unnecessary burden placed on the stomach will becloud the brain. Come to a meeting like this, eat a hearty meal, take no exercise, and your ideas are good for nothing. You are sleepy. You do not really understand the propositions to which you assent. Bring your diet into conformity with natural laws, and a great change will be seen. 6MR 309.3

Do not refer to what Sister White has said. I do not ask you to do this. God has told me that my testimony must be borne to this Conference, and that I must not try to make men believe it. My work is to leave the truth with the people, and those who appreciate the light from heaven will accept the truth. God wants you to make straight paths for your feet, lest the lame shall be turned out of the way. 6MR 310.1

The Lord desires that with the Conference shall be connected the ability He has given Dr. Kellogg. He wants His people to make the most of the ability He has bestowed on His servants. He did not wish the medical missionary work to be separated from the gospel work, or the gospel work separated from the medical missionary work. These are to blend. The medical missionary work is to be regarded as the pioneer work. It is to be the means of breaking down prejudice. As the right arm, it is to open doors for the gospel message. 6MR 310.2

God wants His workers to stand shoulder to shoulder with Dr. Kellogg, who at times has been almost desperate and has almost lost his reason because of the positions taken by some. Many have thrown stones before the car to hinder its advance, when they should have realized that God wants the medical missionary work to go forward. 6MR 310.3

Before I came to this Conference, I was in doubt as to where to stay during the meeting. Dr. Kellogg had courteously invited me to make his house my home. The question arose, “It will be said that Dr. Kellogg has influenced me.” But I thought, “Let people say this if they wish to. They have said it before, when there was no more reason for it than there is now.” Still, as I wished to remove every possible excuse for talk, I decided not to go to the doctor's. On Friday evening, at our season of worship, [at her Elmshaven home] I was asking the Lord to direct me where to stay. I had been sick, and was still sick. I did not wish to attend the Conference at all, because I knew that the exertion would be a terrible strain on me. 6MR 310.4

As I was praying, a soft light filled the room, bringing with it a fragrance as of beautiful flowers. Then a voice seemed to say, “Accept the invitation of My servant, John Kellogg, to make his house your home. I have appointed him as My physician, and you can be an encouragement to him.” This is why I am staying at Dr. Kellogg's house. I wish in every possible way to treat Dr. Kellogg as God's appointed physician. This I am going to do. And I want my brethren to put their unjust sayings far away from them. Inquire, What saith the Lord? Go to Him for help. Depend not on the opinions of human beings; for they are liable to err. Go to the Lord God of Israel. He will give you understanding and knowledge. You are not to lean on any human being. 6MR 311.1

At our season of prayer that evening the whole family was broken down. Though they knew nothing of what I had seen, yet they realized that the Spirit of the Lord was among us. The blessing of God flowed through the room like a tidal wave. The Spirit took hold upon us, and Brother and Sister Druillard wept and praised the Lord. We did indeed have an out-pouring of the Spirit. Such things are more precious to me than gold or silver. 6MR 311.2

I want to say to you, For Christ's sake unify. We cannot reform ourselves by putting our fingers on the wrongs of some one else. Christ says that we must love one another, that we must deal honestly, justly, and truly with one another. He says, “I hate your false weights and measures.” He knows every one of us, and he wants us to come into close connection with him. He told Cornelius where to find Peter. He knew just where Peter was to be found. The angel of the Lord could have given Cornelius the message, but this is not God's way. He wished to bring about a connection between Peter and Cornelius. The light He had given Peter was to be given by Peter to Cornelius. 6MR 311.3

My brethren, let the Lord God of Israel in among you. Give Him room.... I believe that God is here today. If I did not believe this, I would not say what I have said. I believe He can send what I have said home to your hearts. 6MR 312.1

There is a work to be done, not by standing aloof from one another, but by working on God's principles. The Lord wants you to stand in His strength. He wants you to open the windows of the soul heavenward and close them earthward. He wants to reveal His salvation. He wants the medical missionary work and the gospel to be inseparably bound together. His work is to be a united whole. God wants the talents He has given Dr. Kellogg. He wants the talents that are in our institutions to be connected with the management of His work. Committees are to be formed which will have an interest in every part of the work. Then the work will be managed on a higher grade than it has yet been managed. 6MR 312.2

Medical missionary work opens the way for the gospel. I wish to say that God has not blessed the work as He would have blessed had there been an appreciation of the work that He is carrying on. I thank God that Dr. Kellogg has not sunk into despair and infidelity, as I was afraid he would. Dr. Kellogg, it may be that I have written to you too strongly, but I felt that I must get hold of you, and hold you with all the power I had. I appreciate the work that is being carried on in medical missionary lines. How anyone can see this work, and not realize that God is working, is a mystery to me. 6MR 312.3

It is God's design that Dr. Kellogg shall stand in his place to give character to the work by reaching the higher classes. God's people ought to feel honored that He has given them instrumentalities whereby the higher classes may be reached. 6MR 313.1

I wish to say that I want to take hold of the medical missionary work to the utmost of my ability. We have done the best we could in this line of work in Australia. I thank the Lord that His blessing has accompanied our work. Christ's ministers must stand in an altogether different position. They must be evangelists, they must be medical missionaries. They must take hold of the work intelligently. But it is of no use for them to think that they can do this while they drop the work which God has said should be connected with the gospel. If they drop out the medical missionary work, they need not think that they can carry forward their work successfully, for they have only half the necessary facilities. 6MR 313.2

The Lord loves us yet. Let us praise Him for this. Let us take hold of the work in a new way, with heart, and mind, and strength. Do not any longer pick flaws in your brethren. I see enough vultures watching for dead bodies. Let us have nothing of this nature in our work. Let there be no picking flaws. Attend to yourselves, and you will have all you can do. When you purify your souls by obeying the truth, you will have something to impart. 6MR 313.3

May God help you all and help me. I want help and strength and power. But do not quote Sister White till you stand on vantage ground, where you know what you are doing. Take the word of God. It is full of meat and drink. Study the Bible, and you will know more of God than you do now. You will have something fresh to impart to others. You will not go over the same ground again and again. You will realize that there is a world to save. I ask you to put on the whole armor, and be sure that your feet are shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.—Manuscript 43, 1901, 12-19. (Talk in Battle Creek College Library, April 1, 1901.) 6MR 313.4

Released December 2, 1974.